As the culmination of the coming Parshyot is the event at Sinai I want to work through a few of the issues about the subject. Chazal and the Rishonim debate every detail at Sinai and quite a few opinions have resulted of the exact sequence of events. Anyone interested in this see Gra in Aderet Elyahu on Shemot 33:7 and Rabbi David Luria in his Pirush on Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer chapter 46 quoting Gra on Seder Olam for a summary.
As we know, every event the Torah tells us there must be a lesson that it wants to teach us. Torah is not a history book and it only reports meaningful events that affect our thinking. We therefore have to understand what the purpose of this event at Sinai was. This will also help shed light on the character of the event, what exactly happened? Rishonim have different ideas and their opinion gives us a glimpse of how they struggled with the issues of miracles, revelation and Torah min Hashamayim.
Let us look first at the verses in the Torah that deal with the issue of the purpose of Ma’amad Har Sinai.
Shemot 3:12 - in response to Moshe’s reluctance to start the process of the Exodus:
יב וַיֹּאמֶר, כִּי-אֶהְיֶה עִמָּךְ, וְזֶה-לְּךָ הָאוֹת, כִּי אָנֹכִי שְׁלַחְתִּיךָ: בְּהוֹצִיאֲךָ אֶת-הָעָם, מִמִּצְרַיִם, תַּעַבְדוּן אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים, עַל הָהָר הַזֶּה.
12 And He said: 'Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee, that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.'
It will prove retroactively that Moshe was genuine. The difficulty is obvious. Moshe is afraid that the people will not listen to him now. What will the event at the end of the whole process do for him?
Shemot 19:9 – God is introducing the event to Moshe:
ט וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי בָּא אֵלֶיךָ בְּעַב הֶעָנָן, בַּעֲבוּר יִשְׁמַע הָעָם בְּדַבְּרִי עִמָּךְ, וְגַם-בְּךָ יַאֲמִינוּ לְעוֹלָם; וַיַּגֵּד מֹשֶׁה אֶת-דִּבְרֵי הָעָם, אֶל-יְהוָה.
9 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and may also believe thee for ever.' And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.
Is it because the people will hear God speaking to Moshe, they will believe in him forever or are they two different things; “hear” and separately believe in him? The word וְגַם seems to support the latter.
In Shemot 20:18-19 we read:
יח וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, כֹּה תֹאמַר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: אַתֶּם רְאִיתֶם--כִּי מִן-הַשָּׁמַיִם, דִּבַּרְתִּי עִמָּכֶם.
18 And the LORD said unto Moses: Thus thou shall say unto the children of Israel: Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
יט לֹא תַעֲשׂוּן, אִתִּי: אֱלֹהֵי כֶסֶף וֵאלֹהֵי זָהָב, לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ לָכֶם.
19 Ye shall not make with Me--gods of silver, or gods of gold, ye shall not make unto you.
And in Devarim 4:15 we read:
טו וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם מְאֹד, לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם: כִּי לֹא רְאִיתֶם, כָּל-תְּמוּנָה, בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר יְהוָה אֲלֵיכֶם בְּחֹרֵב, מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ.
15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves--for ye saw no manner of form on the day that the LORD spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire--
When God spoke to them there was no physical entity; only “heaven” and “fire” were the source of the speech. Is this one of the goals at Sinai or a result of the event?
Shemot 20:17- as the people were afraid and asked that Moshe speak to them rather than God -
טז וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל-הָעָם, אַל-תִּירָאוּ, כִּי לְבַעֲבוּר נַסּוֹת אֶתְכֶם, בָּא הָאֱלֹהִים; וּבַעֲבוּר, תִּהְיֶה יִרְאָתוֹ עַל-פְּנֵיכֶם--לְבִלְתִּי תֶחֱטָאוּ.
16 And Moses said unto the people: 'Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before you, that ye sin not.'
What kind of test was this? What was its purpose? They are afraid and testing will make them less afraid? What does testing them have to do with them fearing Him from now on? A very cryptic and difficult to understand verse. (Of course DH has answers but it assumes an idiotic editor).
Let us summarize the reasons we have so far found:
To prove that Moshe was sent by God to take the Jews out of Egypt.
To insure that the people will believe in Moshe forever.
To make it clear that God is not physical.
To test the people so that they will fear God.
In the coming posts I will present the different opinions among the Rishonim. In the meantime I would love to hear your ideas.
To prove that Moshe was sent by God to take the Jews out of Egypt.
ReplyDeleteTo insure that the people will believe in Moshe forever.To test the people so that they will fear God.
A "test" acc. to the rambam is a lesson for future generation on how to behave.The lesson here is that a prophet must constantly be proven to be true.If at some date a prophets prediction(for positive thing to happen) does not come true then he is proven false.This is the meaning of יב וַיֹּאמֶר, כִּי-אֶהְיֶה עִמָּךְ, וְזֶה-לְּךָ הָאוֹת, כִּי אָנֹכִי שְׁלַחְתִּיךָ: בְּהוֹצִיאֲךָ אֶת-הָעָם, מִמִּצְרַיִם, תַּעַבְדוּן אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים, עַל הָהָר הַזֶּה
To make it clear that God is not physical.
To test the people so that they will fear God.
At Sinai(the climax) the jewish people don't meet G-D !!! They see nature(a mountain,storms,clouds,lightning).They only hear a voice in their minds( a form of prophecy) which is possibly initiated by the idea that there is no physical G-D.He can only be known through his actions(nature).
David
ReplyDeletegood post,
related to this if you look up Rambam in the 8th chapter of Yesodei HaTorah he presents Moshe's demmural 'vhen loo yaameenu lee' as a response to believing Moshe only via the miracles and wonders that he will perform . To which G-D replies from Shmot 3:12 as you quoted, ma'amad har sinai. From this Rambam shows that the basis for Moshe's status is Sinai, not the miracles in Mitzrayim. However, if you look at the pesukim, 3:12 is a response to Moshe's first demmural, 'mee Anochi'. Further, when Moshe demurs, 'vhen loo ya'ameenu lee' Then G-D proceeds to present the two signs to Moshe. Any suggestions as how to reconsile Rambam's presentation?
Neil
Neil, You are touching on all the crucial points and I will get to it. I want to first discuss Kuzari, Rav Nissim Gaon, Ramban Rashba because it is only thgen the contrast with Rambam becomes clear and stark.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteThe Lechem Mishneh and a host of other commentaries all asked this question. I'll have to look them up.
I look forward to your future posts on this topic
Neil